Debates of June 1st, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what is the Prime Minister so desperately trying to hide from Canadians that he is willing to jeopardize the credibility of Canada's democracy?

He insists on keeping his special rapporteur, longtime family friend and member of the Trudeau Foundation. Why is he doing that? Because he is satisfied with his work. In fact, David Johnston did exactly what the Prime Minister expected of him. He implemented the Prime Minister's plan and sheltered him from a public inquiry.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that he knew in advance, when he said that he would follow the recommendations of his rapporteur and special friend, that he would not recommend a public inquiry?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, while foreign state actors try to undermine our democracy, what do we see from the Conservatives? We see nothing more than political attacks. Every single member of this House and every Canadian should take the issue of foreign interference seriously, but the Conservatives do not offer solutions. They do not offer recommendations. All they do is take cheap political and personal shots. Canadians expect more maturity from the official opposition.

We are going to work hard to ensure that our democratic institutions are protected for all Canadians, because it is not a partisan issue.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It is getting noisy again. I am going to try the back end of the list.

The hon. member for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity.

Veterans Affairs

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Mr. Speaker, our veterans represent the very best of us. The women and men who served our country have done so with immense bravery and selflessness, and they deserve the best care and support possible. There are so many unique organizations across Canada that are going above and beyond to help support our veterans and their families. They are integral to veterans but also important pillars in our communities.

Could the Minister of Veterans Affairs please share with this House what is being done to support these organizations?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I was at the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal to announce over $6 million in funding for 21 organizations. Right across the country, they are doing vitally important work to support our veterans and their families. These projects will help veterans in a wide variety of ways, including by addressing homelessness, retraining, employment and mental health and by supporting under-represented veterans.

We will continue to work hard to ensure Canada's veterans have the care and support they need and deserve.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Beauce.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have this member here.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am sorry, but that is not the way my list works. There is a rule that says the Speaker decides who is going to speak next.

I am going to ask the member to sit down. If the member for Beauce wants to get up, he can get up. Otherwise, I will go to the next name on my list.

I am glad the hon. member for Beauce got permission.

The hon. member for Beauce.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is World Milk Day, and I would like to recognize the hard work of all the dairy farmers and processors from coast to coast.

These farmers work very hard. However, the second carbon tax this government is proposing is putting farming prospects at risk across the country. Canadians need farmers to put food on the table.

When will the Liberals wake up and cancel the second carbon tax, so Canadians can feed their families?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I want to wish everyone a happy World Milk Day.

I thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to sincerely thank all our dairy farmers across the country, who are working very hard to ensure that we have sustainable agriculture.

Do members know, by the way, that our dairy farmers are committed to building a zero-emissions sector? I would like to congratulate them on their plan for sustainable development.

Democratic Institutions

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last night the special rapporteur admitted it himself. The Prime Minister gave him his mandate and he could care less about the vote in the House of Commons. I would like to quote from Le Journal de Montréal:

…Mr. Johnston has obviously become Justin Trudeau's adviser.... As he understands it, his role is to protect his boss, the Prime Minister…even if it means sacrificing his career and the reputation that goes with it.

This was written today by Yasmine Abdelfadel in her column entitled “Democracy's new enemy is David Johnston”. The Conservatives are not the ones saying this.

When is the Prime Minister finally going to put the former governor general out of his misery by ending this charade and launching an independent public inquiry?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, earlier, my colleague explained how, throughout his entire career, David Johnston has always been dedicated to Canada, to Canadians, to serving the public well.

Now, I call on my colleagues, whether my Conservative colleagues or those of the Bloc Québécois, to ensure that we respect and protect Canadian intelligence and those who work to gather this intelligence. I would ask that the party leaders go and get their secret clearance, that they sit in on the briefings, that we stop sharing and debating opinions, and that we work with the facts to find solutions that are actually constructive for our democracy and our institutions.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition parties have been calling for a public inquiry into Chinese interference since February. The Prime Minister refused and instead appointed a special rapporteur, despite all opposition.

Three months later, we are at the same impasse. David Johnston finally tabled his report, in which he blamed the media, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the opposition, everyone except China or the government. That is why, yesterday, the House again called for a public inquiry because the will of the people has not been respected and because we are still stuck at the same impasse.

When will the government finally launch an independent public inquiry?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition parties have access to all the information that David Johnston used to write his report and make the recommendations that we have before us. Now, the right thing to do is to get the security clearance to read the report and then come back and talk about solutions for protecting our institutions and our democracy.

Foreign interference is a threat to our country. It needs to be taken seriously in a non-partisan manner.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my democracy is suffering, and I hope that I will not get an answer that I have already heard.

I want to come back to what we learned the day before yesterday about the member for Durham. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service informed him that he was the target of a disinformation campaign by Chinese authorities during the 2021 election. That is important. We are talking about the leader of the opposition at the time, someone who could have legitimately expected to become prime minister, someone who was the leader of the party that got the most votes in 2021. We are not talking about just anyone.

The interference is not targeting the government. It is targeting our democracy as a whole. We are all concerned, and we are all calling for a public inquiry.

What will the government do?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am really happy to see the Bloc so interested in this issue, but what Mr. Johnston's report actually said was that he included an annex with all of the confidential information he reviewed. He provided it to party leaders and asked them to receive their security clearance to review it and determine if his recommendations from it were appropriate. However, what has the leader of the Bloc chosen to do? He has closed his eyes under a veil of ignorance and ignored the actual facts of the matter.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, an NDP member, a Conservative member, and the former leader of the official opposition have all been the target of threats, and I am sure that others have been too.

However, the Prime Minister is telling us that the opposition is creating a toxic climate. Come on. The toxic climate stems from the fact that our electoral system is under threat and that the government only wants to talk about it behind closed doors without taking action. Now is the time for transparency. Now is the time to shed light on this issue. Now is the time for an independent public inquiry.

When will the Liberals finally get that through their heads?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, now is the time for the opposition leaders to set partisanship aside and receive the briefings to which they are entitled, so that we can move on, discuss the facts and discuss the solutions to be put in place because, as everyone agrees, foreign interference poses a real threat to our country. It must be taken seriously, but it needs to be done in the right way to protect our intelligence and to protect our public service employees who collect that intelligence.

They need to do the responsible thing and go get their briefings.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I must point out that I do not have the name of the member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier on my list to ask questions. I invite him to check with his whip.

The hon. member for Chatham-Kent—Leamington.

Carbon Pricing

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government's policies are akin to death by a thousand taxes as Canadians watch their life savings bleed away. Gas prices are draining their bank accounts, as Liberal carbon tax 1 adds 41¢ per litre and Liberal carbon tax 2 adds another 17¢ per litre. However, do not forget that, just like adding salt to this open wound, the government's GST is a tax on a tax on a tax. This combination will add a whopping 61¢ to the price per litre of gas for Canadians.

I ask this again: When will the minister get the facts and stop the tax?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have to roll the tape back, because not once, not twice, not three times, but five times in just the last year the Conservatives have had the opportunity to reduce taxes on Canadians. However, what did they do? Every single time we vote to reduce taxes on Canadians, how do they vote? Against. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did they vote? Against. When we reduced taxes on the middle class, how did they vote? Against. When we reduced taxes on people who just want to pay their bills, how did the Conservatives vote? Against.

We know the plan, and we are going to keep delivering for Canadians.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, mothers in the north are having to make very difficult decisions because of the Prime Minister's first carbon tax, and now it is even worse with the new carbon tax 2.0. This is from Northwest Territories MLA Jackie Jacobson: “we're really hurting.... Single mothers are having to choose to buy Pampers or pay their cell bill, or pay their power bill, or pay to buy food, and people are going without.” No mother should ever have to make the difficult decision between buying food and keeping their children warm in winter.

When will the Prime Minister finally axe his cruel carbon tax?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we know the rising cost of food and groceries is having a challenging impact on families and single moms. That is why we introduced programs like $10-a-day child care, the Canada workers benefit, dental care and the Canada child benefit to help make life more affordable for families, for moms and for all Canadians.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling financially, but this government continues to be overly keen, not to help people, but to take more money out of their pockets with new taxes. There are not one, not two, not three, but four taxes.

First, there was the Liberal carbon tax. Second, they taxed this Liberal carbon tax. Then they invented the second Liberal carbon tax and they want to tax it. People are being taxed one, two, three, four times. It is outrageous.

Will the government understand that taxing struggling Canadian families four times is really not a good idea?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that it is very disappointing to hear my hon. colleague opposite oversimplifying the issue. He knows full well that the carbon pricing system does not apply in Quebec.

Let us talk about carbon pricing. In 2021, not only did all members of the Conservative Party campaign in favour of carbon pricing, but 19 members on the other side campaigned in 2021 and 2008 to implement carbon pricing. They have reneged on their promise twice. They are breaking the promises they made to Canadians.

That is not what we are doing on this side of the House. We are working for Canadians. We are fighting climate change.